Biology

Physiology

Slowbro are physically slightly different Slowpoke. It now has striped, tan belly, three claws on its forepaws, and two claws on its hind paws. It has a Shellder latched to its tail in a symbiotic, almost parasitic relationship. The extra weight on its tail has caused the Slowpoke to become bipedal. As a result of carrying this burden, its special abilities have developed greatly. Through the symbiotic relationship, the latched Shellder grows in a spiral shell instead of a bivalve. If for any reason it loses its Shellder, it will result in the Slowbro returning to its former Slowpoke self.

Gender differences

None.

Special abilities

Since it cannot fish anymore, it now has to catch prey. It is therefore, slightly faster than an ordinary Slowpoke, and is significantly more powerful. The most notable changes in Slowbro's movepool is the addition of physical moves, such as Brick Break, Ice Punch, and Seismic Toss.

Behavior

Used to dozing off at shorelines and lakesides waiting for fish to bite the tip of its tail, the extra burden of a Shellder turned this Pokémon fisher into a hunter, against its own will.

Pokédex entries

Slowbro, the Hermit Crab Pokémon. Slowbro are able to use powerful Psychicattacks but generally prefers to avoid conflict.

This concludes the entries from the original series.

In the manga

A Slowbro in Pokémon Pocket Monsters

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Lorelei uses a Slowbro as part of her team in Pokémon Adventures. With the Shellder clamped onto its tail, Lorelei explains that her Slowbro has sharpened senses and is capable of looking in all directions, thanks to the extra pair of eyes, allowing it to discover Green's ploy using Horsea.

Trivia

Despite it being a commonly known and accepted fact that Shellder triggers the evolution, mentioned in most of its Pokédex entries, Slowbro's evolution from Slowpoke has nothing to do with Shellder in the games, unlike how the evolution of Mantyke requires a Remoraid.

Slowbro's Pokédex entries state that if the Shellder is removed, it will revert to its Slowpoke form.

Many Pokémon are noted to evolve by two or more Pokémon combining, such as Metang being formed by two Beldum. However, the anime does not show this and simply spawns the second Pokémon out of nowhere: an example is Morrison's Beldum, which simply evolved into Metang without the need of joining to another Beldum. The evolution of Slowpoke into Slowbro or Slowking is the only time that evolution by two Pokémon physically merging is shown.

In Pokémon Snap, however, three Magnemite do merge to become a Magneton.

Origin

Slowbro's shell and lifestyle are somewhat similar to hermit crabs, though it is physically similar to giant otters, giant salamanders, and hippopotamuses. Slowbro's appearance may also be a reference to the mythical sazae-oni, a magical sea demon of Japanese folklore distinguished by its spiny "sazae" or "turban shaped" snail shell.

Its parasitic relationship to Slowpoke may be inspired by leeches. Interesting enough, Slowbro is known as the Hermit Crab Pokémon and many real-world parasites, including leeches, often target crabs.

Name origin

Slowbro is a combination of slow and bro (short for brother). It may just be used in a general sense, or it could refer to the brotherly/symbiotic relationship shared by the combined form of Slowpoke and Shellder.

Yadoran may be taken to mean 宿らん (to not lodge/dwell). It may also reference 宿借り yadokari (hermit crab) or 宿主 yadonushi ([parasitic] host).